Sunday, September 23, 2012

Dateline: Kansas City, 2042, which is where we find 25
year-old Joseph Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gainfully-employed
as a novel type of hit man called a “looper.” The grisly line of work basically
involves waiting at a designated clearing in a cornfield for the delivery of a
blindfolded kidnap victim involuntarily teleported back in time.

As
soon as each person spontaneously materializes, Joe blows them away on the spot
with a big blunderbuss, before incinerating the body to eliminate the evidence.
This modernistic equivalent of filling cement shoes has become the mob’s preferred
method of assassination since loopers can commit the perfect crime by killing
people who technically don’t even exist yet.

Despite
the great pay, Joe’s job has one major drawback, namely, that he will
eventually be expected to close his own loop by shooting his future self (Bruce
Willis) dead in the killing field. In the interim, he copes with the prospect
of committing suicide via drugs and denial, getting high while making plans to
retire to France
that ostensibly amount to an exercise in futility.

The
moment of truth arrives the fateful day he finally finds himself face-to-face
with his 55 year-old alter ego. However, Joe is unable to pull the trigger, a
failing which doesn’t sit well with his short-fused boss (Jeff Daniels) who immediately
dispatches an army of thugs to finish off both fugitives.

That
is the absorbing premise of Looper, a riveting sci-fi thriller directed by Rian
Johnson. The movie marks the third collaboration between him and Joseph
Gordon-Levitt, a reteaming lending credence to the age-old maxim: three times a
charm.

The picture’s inscrutable script is as
confounding as Chris Nolan’s Memento, and visually the production is rather reminiscent
of the best of Steven Spielberg. Nice company. Again and again, just when you
think you’ve unraveled the convoluted plot, the story takes yet another intriguing
turn into uncharted waters.

Great
performances abound here, starting with Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis as the
same character. Also deserving of accolades in substantial support roles are
Paul Dano, Emily Blunt, Piper Perabo and Jeff Daniels.

A
mind-bending masterpiece that’s a must for more cerebral fans of the time-travel
genre.

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KamWilliams.com

The Sly Fox Film Reviews publishes the content of film critic Kam Williams. Voted Most Outstanding Journalist of the Decade by the Disilgold Soul Literary Review in 2008, Kam Williams is a syndicated film and book critic who writes for 100+ publications around the U.S., Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada and the Caribbean. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Online, the NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee and Rotten Tomatoes.

In addition to a BA in Black Studies from Cornell, he has an MA in English from Brown, an MBA from The Wharton School, and a JD from Boston University. Kam lives in Princeton, NJ with his wife and son.